Device for supporting coke-oven doors while the doors are being cleaned, adjusted, or repaired



Oct. 29, I940. -R F. KR RTING COK ARE BEING CLEANED, ADJUSTED,

ALL ET AL 2,219,628 DEVICE FOR SUPPO E-OVEN DOORS WHILE THE DOORS 0R REPAIRED Filed Feb. 18. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 29, 1940. R F KRALL r AL 2,219,628

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING COKE-OVEN DOORS WHILE THE DOORS ARE BEING CLEANED, ADJUSTED, 0R REPAIRED Filed Feb. 18. 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ttorneys Oct. 29, 1940. R KRALL ET AL 2,219,628

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING COKE-OVEN DOORS WHILE THE DOORS ARE BEING CLEANED, ADJUSTED, 0R REPAIRED Filed Feb. 18, 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 29, 1940 PATENT OFFICE DEVICE noons FOR I SUPPORTING COKE-OVEN WHILE THE DOORS ARE BEING CLEANED, ADJUSTED, OR REPAIR/ED Reginald Frank Krall,

Matthew Hamilton MoEwan, and William George Buchanan, London, England, assignors to Woodall-Duckham (1920) Limited, London, England, a British com- Application February 18, 1939, Serial No. 257,218

" In Great Britain February 24, 1938 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved device for supporting coke-oven doors while the latter are being cleaned, adjusted, repaired, or, in general terms, serviced.

In coke-oven plants (especially when the ovens are fitted with self-sealing doors) the cokeoven doors must periodically be cleaned, adjusted and repaired. For this purpose two or more. door racks are usually provided on both the pusher side and coke side oven benches. The door racks are fixed frames on which the coke-oven doors can be mounted. One or more of the door racks carry a spare door, and the remaining empty racks are thereto receive a door from the oven battery which requires attention. The door is carried from the oven to the door rack by the door machine, which takes back one of the spare doors to the oven.

It has hitherto been the practice to make these door racks rigid fixtures, so that a door can only be set on the rack in the same orientation as it occupies in the oven, i. e., with the front of the door facing outwardly toward the oven bench.

With such an arrangement the inner face of the door can be attended to by the operator in safety and comfort, because the operator stands on ladders or platforms which are remote from the oven bench. Toattend to the front of a door, however, the operator has to stand on the bench,

and on account of the height of the door he has 30 to use a ladder or some such means to reach the upper portions of the door. Oven machinery or coke cars are periodically passing along the bench, so that the operator has to watch for this and move his ladder, which prolongs the time required for the work on the door.

The object of the present invention is to provide a form of coke-oven door rack which eliminates the inconveniences referred to in the preceding paragraph, and which increases the safety and convenience with which the doors may be serviced.

According to the present invention, we provide a door rack or door support for coke-oven doors, capable of rotation about a vertical axis, so that both sides of a door mounted on the rotatable rack or support can be attended to from the side remote from the oven bench, the door and rack being turned through 180 as required.

One possible practical embodiment of themvention comprisesa rotatable chair, shaped to accommodate the foot of a coke-oven door, and provided with locking means or a catch to hold the door in an upright position on the chair. The chair is rotatable on a vertical pivot, a ball or roller bearing preferably being interposed between the chair and its mounting to reduce the efiort necessary to turn the door. The door is placed onthe chair by the door handling machine, is

secured in position by the locking means and turned round as required, the operator standing on the side of the door rack'remote from the coke-oven bench.

In the preferred from of the invention, however, the upper part of the door is also engaged by a supporting member which is' pivoted for rotation co-axially with the lower rotatable chair. A locking device is provided for holding the top of the door in the supporting member. By these means the coke-oven door is adequately supported at both bottom and top. The preferred'form of the invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the relation of the door racks to the coke-even battery,

Figure 2 is a side view showing the position of Figures 11 and 12 show in side and front elevation respectively an embodiment of the invention in which thedoor rack is formed as a cage rotatable about-a vertical axis.

Referring to Figure 1, the rotatable door racks H of the present invention are disposed at the end of a battery of coke-ovens [2. In the illustration, coke-oven doors are mounted on the two outermost racks, whilst the middle rack Ila is empty and is ready to receive a coke-oven door.

Figure 2 shows the disposition of the door racks in relation to the coke-oven bench I3. The door I4 is held between the rotatable chair I 5 and the rotatable top supporting member I6, whilst ladders I'I leading to platforms I8 are arranged behind the door rack on the side remote from the coke-oven bench I3 and permit the operator to reach all parts of the door I4 with ease. By an arrangement hereinafter described, the operator can turn the door on so that each side in turn faces the platforms i8, a catch or locking device being provided to prevent the rotation of the supports, so preventing the door from turning if pressure is applied thereto during the servicing of the door.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the details of construction of the chair i5. This comprises a base l9,

carrying the ball bearing 23 and the rotatable The part 2! carries guides 22 to re-' portion ZI. ceive the foot of the coke-oven door, and an elevated step 24 to support the plug section of the door. The part 2i contains apertures 23 in which a tommy-bar is inserted to turn the chair. A pivoted lever 25 can be engaged with stops to lock the chair in positions 180 apart. The foot of the door I4 occupies the position shown in Figure 6 on the chair, and the door is held in the chair by the pivoted latches 25.

Figures '7, 8 and 9 show the construction of the rotatable supporting member I6 for the top of the door. The support as a whole is rotatable on a vertical pivot 2'I secured to the foundation 28. The support includes a pair of side guide cheeks 29 for the top of the door and a back stop 30. The locking-device for holding the top of the door comprises a pair of horizontally pivoted arms 3I, joined at each end, pivoted on the shaft 35. Each arm 3I carries perpendicular projections 32. The projections 32 in the position shown in Figure '7 engage stops 33 on the foundation 28 so that in this position the supporting member I6 is held facing outwardly in the correct position to receive the top of the door. A pair of weights 34 are mounted at the end of short levers, which are freely pivoted on the shaft 35, whilst the levers carrying the weights 34 operate between projections 33 on the arms 3|.

In the position of Figure '7 the Weights 34 hold the arms 32 engaged with the stops 33 for preventing rotation of the support. The door I4 is then inserted in the door rack and the arms 3I are pulled down by the operator at ground level, by engaging a hook with the bar between the outer ends of the arms 3I (see Figure 8). When the arms 3| are pulled down to the position of Figure 10, the projections 32 engage with the top of the door as shown in Figure 10. At the same time the rear stops 36 carry the weights 34 over the central position, and the weights fall to the position 34a (Figure 10), against the front stops 36 and so hold the top of the door I4 against the back stop 30, so that the top of the oven door is securely held in the rotatable support, which latter is now freed for rotation by the projections 32 disengaging the stops 33 on the foundation. Before removing the door from the rack, the top is released by the operator pulling down the inward end of the arms 3I to the position of Figure 7, in which position they are again held by the tilting over of the weights 34.

If desired, the chair I5 and the top support- I6 can be rigidly connected together by vertical side members 37. The door-rack then becomes a cage into which the door i4 is placed, as shown in side elevation in Figure 11, and in front elevation in Figure 12. The whole cage is rotatable about the upper and lower pivots in the elements I5 and I6. In this embodiment of the invention, if desired, the cage may be completed by an additional guard 38 for the back of the door, which guard extends between the chair I5 and the top support I6, as shown in Figure 11.

By means of the present invention, both sides of a coke-oven door on the door rack can be serviced with great ease and safety, as the operator is always Working on the side remote from the coke-oven bench.

We claim:

1. Door rack for coke-oven doors comprising in combination a support for the bottom of the door mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, and a supporting member for engaging the top of a coke-oven door, mounted for rotation co-axially with the support for the bottom of the door the axis of rotation lying in the median plane of the door, and vertical side members rigidly connecting the said upper and lower supports, means to hold a door on the said door rack, and means to lock said door rack in at least two predetermined positions about the vertical axis of rotation.

2. A door-rack for coke-oven doors, comprising a lower support for the bottom of the door-and a separate upper support for the top of the door, both of said supports being rotatable about a common vertical axis situated in the median plane of the door, and each support having means to hold the door in position thereon, together with means to lock each support in a position to receive a door, said locking means serving to hold a door in predetermined positions about the vertical axis whereby an operator on one side of the door rack only can obtain access to all parts of a door carried on the rack.

3. A door-rack for coke-oven doors, comprising a chair shaped to accommodatev the foot of a door and rotatable about a vertical axis lying in the median plane of the door, a separate supporting member rotatable coaxially with the chair and engaging the upper part of a, door carried by the chair and provided with means for holding the top of the door in the supporting member, means to lock the chair and the upper supporting member in predetermined positions about the axis of rotation, and ladder means associated with the door-rack on one side only thereof permitting an operator to obtain access to all levels of both sides of a door carried on the rack.

4. A door-rack for coke-oven doors in which the door is held in a vertical position between separate top and bottom supports, which supports are rotatable about a common vertical axis lying in the median plane of the door, the said supports each having means to hold the door in position thereon, and means are provided to lock the door-rack in two predetermined positions 180 apart whereby each side of a door can be positioned to face an operator on one side only of the door-rack.

5. Door-rack for coke-oven doors, including a cage for supporting a coke-oven door in a vertical position, said cage comprising a base and a top portion joined by rigid vertical side pieces, said cage being rotatable about a vertical axis lying in the median plane of a door mounted therein, means to secure the door in the cage, means to lock said cage in at least two predetermined positions 180 apart about the vertical axis, and means located on one side of the door-rack only permitting an operator to obtain access to all vertical levels of a door carried in the cage.

6. A door-rack for coke-oven doors associated with a coke-oven battery, which door-rack is situated adjacent the end of the oven battery and holds the door in a vertical position and comprises a chair shaped to accommodate the foot of adoor and rotatable about a vertical axis lying in the median plane of a door carried by the chair, a separate supporting member rotatable co-axial- 1y with the chair and engaging the upper part of a door carried by the chair and provided with means for holding the top of a door, means to lock the chair in predetermined positions about the axis of rotation, and ladder means associated with the door-rack on the side thereof remote from the coke-oven bench.

REGINALD FRANK KRALL. MATTHEW HAMILTON MCEWAN. WILLIAM GEORGE BUCHANAN. 

